Commutator wiper and oiler.



UNITED STATES PATENT-OFFICE.

DANIEL D. NEVILL, GEORGE H. CLAY, AND JOHN H. CLEWER, OF KANSAS CITY,MISSOURI;

SAID CLEWER ASSIGNOR T0 C. M. HANKS, OFKANSAS CITY, MISSOURI. Y

COHIIUTATOR WIPER AND OILER.

No. sgr/5,278.

specificati@ of Letters Patent.

Patented April 21, 1908 Application tiled November 16, 1905. Serial No.A287,688.

GEORGE H. CLAY, and JOHN H. CLEWER, citi^ zens of the United States,residing vat Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State ofMissouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCommutatoi' .Wipers and Oilers, of which the following is aspecification.'-

ThisQ invention relates to commutator wipers and Oilers, and ourObjectis to produce a device of this character which can be appliedeasily, quickl and economically to any dynamo, and which is applied tothe commutator so. lightly that it cleans the same' and barely inoistensit so that the film of oil shall not introduce resistance to the currentgenerated nor cause the brushes to bounce from the commutator.

With this general object in view and others as hereinafter appear, theinvention consists in certain novel and peculiar features ofconstruction and organization as hereinafter described and claimed; andin order that it may be fully understood reference is to be had to theaccompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 represents a side View of thedynamo equipped with a device embodying our invention; said device beingshown in section on thedottedlineI-IofFi .2.' Fi .2,isatop plan view ofsaid device detached from the d namo. Fig.`3, represents a detached viewo said device as viewed at ri ht angles to Fig. 1. Fig. 4, re resents aiagrammatic view of a portion o the lcircuit in which said device islocated said circuit having a switch. Fig. 5, is a view partly insideelevation and artl in central verticpl section of a modied orm ofsaid device. Fig. 6, is a similar view of a second modified form. Fig. 7is a vertical section of a two-wa valve forming a part of theconstruction s iown in Fig. 6. Fig. 8, is a top plan view of part of theconstruction shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 9,' is a vertical section of a thirdmodified' form of the device.

'In the said drawings, 1 indicates a dynamo of any suitable or preferredtype, 2 the commutator thereof, and 3 a pair of the brushes engagin saidcommutator.

4 an 5 indicate conductors ofiacircuit which may be a'branch of thedynamo cirvablyd-ellamp and hold the interposed strip p5 M10 cuit, notshown, or may be an independent circuit.

6 indicates a solenoid electrically connected to conductors 4 and 5.

7 indicatesV a switch of any suitable'type, adapted by engagement ordisengagement with Contact 8 to make or break said circuit and thereforeener ize or denergize said solenoid, 'the switch eing pivoted at point9.

10 indicates the core passage of the solenoid, and 11 the pluri er whichfits and is ladapted to move furt er into the solenoid when the latteris energized and to withdraw partially from the solenoid when the latteris denergized, through'the pressure of a s ring 12 disposed between theu per end o the solenoid and the head 13 of t ie plunger.

Screwed into the lower end of the plungerA as at 14 and dependingtherefrom is a rod 15 of brass or other substance which is not affectedby the magnetic infiuence of the solenoid whenenergized, and the lowerportion 16 of said rod is preferably flattened for a purpose which ishereinafter ex lained.

17 indicates the base of the so enoid and 18 sleeve portions dependingtherefrom toward its downward movement. The lower end of the rod is bentand widened to form a clamping aw .26, and ivoted at 27' to the rod is acompanion angu ar jaw 28, said jaws being held pressed' yieldinglytogether by a spring 29. or its equivalent, to cause them to reliwic gor other material 30, employe wipe and oil the commutator, it beingunderstood that it is preferred that the len h of the strip of wickingshall equal the wi th of the commutator. When itis'desired to remp plate19 in its upward movement. and `under certain conditions, bracket 21 inVThe guide move the wicking for any purpose, the arm 31 of jaw 28 can bepressed toward the rod for the purpose of separating the jaws, as

will be reatily understood by reference to Fi .3. v

gif convenient, in attachingr the solenoid to the dynamo, we provide abit'uicated bracket 32, bolted to and insulated from the dynamo, thesolenoid being slipped on said arm with the rod l5 engaging the.bifurcation of the bracket. The device is also preferably insulated fromthe bracket by means of' the insulating washers 33 clamped againstopposite sides oi said bracket by tightening thel nuts 22. By thisarrangement itwill be seen that the solenoid can be quicklyv adjustedtoward or from the dynamo so as to dispose of it properly above theeoimnutator, and then secured in the desired position by tightening saidnuts.

1n practice the solenoids for the dynainos will be connected up inseries so that the operation of the switch will simultaneously energizeor denergizc the solenoids. The energization of the solenoids attractsthe plungers 1]. and causes them to move toward the eoinmutatoi' untilthe combined wiper and oiler 30 lightly engages the commutator, thisengagement being maintained as long as the switch in engagement withcontact S, which by preference, will be but a small fractional part of aminute, the spring l2 reelevating the plunger and the combined wipei andoilertheinstant the circuit is broken. By this method the commutators ofall the dynamos employed in a plant may be wi )ed and oiled with thedesired frequency am at a minimum expense.

Fig. 5, illustrates a clock-work mechanism for automatically wiping andlubricating the commutator. ln this construction a bracket 34 is securedto and insulated from the dynamo and is provided with a sleeve portion35, equi ped with a set `screw 36 for clamping at the esired adjustmentin said sleeve the arm 37 of a guide bracket 38. The plunger in thiscase is rel'erably made of ilat metal bent to forni t ie correspondingort-ions 3) extending slidingly through the racket 38, andthe head 4()above the bracket, a spring l1 corresponding to spring 12 being employedto normally hold the plunger ele-- vated. The lower ends of ainis 39 arcbent to torni the spring jaws 42, to clam) between them the combinedwiper and lubricator 43 of the saine type as the corresponding part 30,and to hold said jaws clamped upon said wicking we provide a slidingsleeve 44 which when shoved up permits the jaws to .spring apart. 45indicates an upwardly projecting portion of bracket 34 and jour` naledin the upper end of portion 45 is a shaft 46 provided with a cam 47,said shaft being driven-at a predetermined speed through the action of atrain olf gearing 4S, said gearing scribed.

being driven in any suitable manner, soy as to turn the cam in thedirection indicgted the arrow. By this arrangement it will be seen thatfor the major portion of the revolution, the combined oiler and wiperwill be out of contact with the coinmutator, and that it will be inengagement with the same only as the point of the cani rides over theupper end of the plunger, the spring 41 relevating the plungerimmediately the point of the cam passes out oi engagement with theplunger.

In Fig. 6, pneumatic means for operating the plunger is 4shown,and insaid figure, 49 indicates an air cylinder, 50 the plunger forming thepiston stein thereof, 51 the piston of said stem, and 52 a collar tolimit upward movement of the piston. 53 indicates a similar collar topositively limit the downward movement of the piston, the lastnainedcollar being adapted to prevent the combined oiler and wiper (not shownin Fig. 6) from being jammed heavily against the commutator. 54, 55indicates branch pipes communicating with the cylinder above and belowthe piston and with a valve casing 56 connected to the air-supply pipe.57. A twowayvalve 58 occupies said casing and is adapted to normallyoccupy the position shown in dotted lines Fig. (i, and full lines liig.7, for the purpose of normally holding the combined oiler and wiper outof engagement with the fommutator. The stein 59 ofv said valve has anarm 60, and a s )ring 61 mounted on the stem and engaging the valvecasing at one end and the arm at the other holds the valve normally inthe position described. To reverse the position of said valve-atintervals against the resistance of said spring so as to cfl'ect theapplication of the combined oilei and wiper to the commutator, the cani62, like cam 47 of Fig. 5, may be employed to rock said. arm 6() upwarduntil pipe 57 and 54 are in communication so that the air will enter thecylinder'above the piston and force the latter downward. As the point ofthe cam passes said arm the springreturns the latter and the valve totheir original positions so as to instantly reelevate the piston andtherefore the combined oiler and wiper. j

In Fig.' 9, a combined oiler and wiper is shown which maintains ayielding pressure with the cominutator at all times instead ofperiodically as in the figures previously del'n this construction, thebracket 63 secured to and insulated from the dynamo, is provided with avertically depending sleeve portion (54 containing the combined oilerand wiper 65, which in this case will preferably be a stick ofsolidified lubricant. When said stick is used up it will be replacedwith a new one.

From the above description it will be apparent that we have reduced acommutator wiper and oiler ein odying the features of advantageenumerated as desirable and which obviously may be modiiied withoutdeparting from the principle of construction involved.

Having thus described the invention what.

we claim as .new and desire to Letters Patent, is:-

1. The combination with a dynamo, of a solenoid having a reciprocatoryplunger comprising magnetic and non-magnetic portions united together attheir ends and havin such union point normally within the field ofattraction of the solenoid; said portions projecting at their oppositeends beyond the corresponding ends of the solenoid wiping and oilingmeans carried by the nonmagnetic portion of the lunger, engaging thecommutator periodically, a head on the projecting magnetic portion ofthe plunger, and a spring interposedv between said head and solenoid tohold said head yieldingly away from the solenoid.

2. The combination with a dynamo, of a solenoid arranged radially withrespect to the commutator of the dynamo and adjustable in a directionsubstantially parallel with the axis of the commutator, a plunger partlywithin the solenoid and held yieldingly at one limit of its movement, anon-magnetic rod attached to the plunger within the solenoid and movablewith the former, and an oiler and wiper proper detachably carried bysaid rod and adapted when the solenoid is energized and attracts saidplunger to be pressed yieldingly against the commutator.

3. The combination with a dynamo, of a solenoid arranged radially withrespect to secure by the commutator of the dynamo and adjusty able in adirection substantially parallel with the axis of the commutator, aplunger partly within the solenoid and held yieldingly at one limit ofits movement, a non-magnetic the solenrod attached to the plunger withinoid and movable with the former, and terminating at its opposite end ina jaw, a companion jaw pivoted thereto, a spring holding said jawsyieldingly together, and a 'substance for wiping and oiling thecommutator clamped between and depending below said jaws.

4. The combination with a dynamo, of a bifurcated bracket secured to andinsulated from the dynamo, a solenoid mounted and adjustable upon saidbracket and provided with a magnetic plunger, a sprin holding saidplunger partly withdrawn rom the solenoid, a non-magnetic rod extendingthrough said bifurcated bracket and into'the solenoid and attached tosaid plunger, a gluide bracket for said rod carried by the rst-namedbracket, and a substance for oiling and wipin the commutator, detachablysecured at t e lower end of said rod.

5. The combination with a dynamo, of a bifurcated bracket secured to andinsulated from the dynamo, a solenoid mounted and adjustable upon saidbracket and provided with a' magnetic plunger, a spring holding saidplunger partly withdrawn from the solenoid, a non-magnetic rod extendingthrough said bifurcated bracket and into the solenoid and attached tosaid plunger, a

guide bracket for said rod carried by the' first-named bracket, -asubstance for oiling and wiping the eommutator, #detachably secured atthe lower end,of said rod, and means for positively limiting themovement of the plunger.

In testimony whereof we aiiix our signatures in the presence of twowitnesses.

DANIEL D. yNEVILLE. GEORGE H. CLAY. JOHN H. CLEWER. VVi-tnesses: JOSEPHN. SAUNDERs, SUSIE NEVILLE.

